All of the 17 stranded hikers trapped by raging floodwaters in Arizona over the weekend have been rescued, after the last two were extracted early Monday morning.
Pima County Sheriff’s Deputy Cody Gress said crews retrieved the remaining pair at 6:45 a.m. (9:45 a.m. ET).
They had been stuck on a cliff blocked by water in the Tanque Verde Falls area of Redington Pass in the mountains east of Tucson.
The two had been given water, food and blankets overnight and authorities monitored their status. Eight of the hikers, including a 4-year-old boy, were airlifted from the scene. Officials said one of them suffered a hurt leg, but did not need to be treated.
“The final nine we were able to get out on foot,” Gress said.
At a press conference Monday afternoon, Pima County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Boll called the rescue of the boy, who still hasn’t been identified, “emotional.”
“It was terrifying for everyone,” Boll said. “When you see a 4-year-old on their back and you can’t get to them, it’s tough.”
The incident served as a reminder of the danger of flash flooding “especially in areas like Redington Pass and Sabino Canyon,” Gress said.
“It takes time for the water to flow from the mountain down to the valley, and when it does it can be swift and deadly. All too often, hikers decide to hike just after it rains because the air temperature is cooler, not realizing they are walking into areas which are at an increased risk for flash flooding,” he said.
Witness recounts ‘indescribable’ flash flooding
Brenda Leinen told CNN that she was hiking through Sabino Canyon in Pima, Arizona, on Sunday afternoon when she got a flash flood alert on her phone. Minutes later, she and her family were struggling to get out of the flood’s path.
“We ran down the mountain as fast as we could, knowing what was coming,” Leinen said. “It sounded like jet engines roaring and we could see the water rush down.”
Leinen said it took her and her family about four hours to cross nine flooded river crossings in the canyon. Leinen posted a video on Instagram, which showed the group crossing the last three with about 50 other people, including children and babies.
She called the power of the water “indescribable.” “The water came down like a wall. It was instant. It washed the concrete away like sand,” Leinen said.
Police warn residents to be aware of surroundings
Flash flooding caused the deaths of nine members of a family in a popular swimming area north of Phoenix earlier this month. That disaster happened near the Cold Springs swimming hole, just north of Payson, in Gila County, Arizona.
During Monday’s press conference, Pima County Sheriff Sgt. Erick Maldonado said authorities “got lucky because we were there in time,” compared to the incident in Payson.
“A lot of things fell our way, but unfortunately it doesn’t always work out that way,” he said.
While the cooler weather in Arizona allows residents to take advantage of hiking trails and swimming holes, Maldonado said he hopes people will explore more responsibly in the future.
“Sometimes it takes tragic events to educate people,” he added.
In Pennsylvania and New York
Over the weekend a series of intense storms moved from the Midwest to the Northeast, prompting isolated flash flooding in Kentucky and Pennsylvania, forecasters said.
Flooding hit Pennsylvania on Monday, where there were ongoing water rescues in parts of Bradford County, the county sheriff’s office told CNN. Bradford County, in the state’s northeast, borders New York state.
Flash flood watches continued for portions of northeastern Pennsylvania and central New York state throughout Monday.
In Maryland, the Queen Anne’s County Sheriff’s Office said a tornado was believed to have hit the Bayside community early Monday morning, with calls coming in around 1:30 a.m. ET.
The sheriff’s office said the weather event had caused multiple structures to collapse, gas leaks and that trees and power lines had been downed.
The National Weather Service will need to conduct a survey to confirm that the damage was from a tornado.